Twitter account of al Shabaab Somali militant group is closed

Michael Malakata |
Jan. 29, 2013

The Twitter account of Somali Islamic militant group al Shabaab has been closed following the group's use of the microblogging site to link to videos of Kenyan hostages, mock rivals and claim responsibility for several bombings in Kenya.

"The issue of al Shabaab using twitter to threaten violence is likely to give impetus to most African government to work even harder to control the use of social media networks in the region," said Edith Mwale, telecom analyst at African center for ICT Development.

"But I think," Mwale said, "social media is unstoppable at this point as it has become a way of life for millions of people in the region."